


over and over, the only truth (everything comes back to you)

by ackermanx



Category: Kagerou Project
Genre: Multi, Yuukei Quartet - Freeform, the good ol poly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-25
Updated: 2017-10-02
Packaged: 2019-01-05 08:13:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,748
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12186261
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ackermanx/pseuds/ackermanx
Summary: falling asleep and waking up, across four different times





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> not even a week later and here comes my next fic. what do u mean i have a problem
> 
> THAT ASIDE, I really do love the quartet and i love the thought of them all living together in the future and being happy together /sheds single tear
> 
> so uhhhhh chapter one . tap dances out

Ayano steps back and surveys the scene in front of her: Haruka's sketching happily in his notebook, Takane looks bored out of her mind, and Shintaro is too busy staring daggers into the back of Takane's head to do anything more than stab violently at his food.

 

She claps her hands and grins when everyone's eyes land on her.

 

"So," Ayano starts sweetly. "I was thinking - "

 

The start of a smirk appears on Shintaro's face, but Takane takes care of that before it can get any bigger.

 

" - what if we had a sleepover one day?"

 

Haruka's eyes immediately lights up, but Takane rolls her eyes and scoffs.

 

"We're in high school, Ayano. No one _does_ sleepovers anymore."

 

Ayano pouts and sits back down next to Takane, swinging her legs. "But no one _said_ that I couldn't. Please? Just once, and if you don't like it I won't ask ever again."

 

"I think it would be nice!" Haruka decides to pipe up. "I've never been to a sleepover with anyone else before."

 

And Shintaro just stares intently at Takane's screwed-up face, because he knows that she can never resist Haruka and Ayano for long - it was just a matter of ti -

 

"Okay!" Takane throws up her hands, defeat evident in the slump of her shoulders. "Okay, I'll do it, _god_ you two are too persuasive for your own good."

 

"Oh, you know you love us," Shintaro mutters, smirking when Takane's face turns a nice shade of tomato-red (cause: Ayano draping herself over Takane in an ecstatic hug).

 

* * *

 

 

"Okay, I just have one teeny-tiny, unbelievably small question."

 

Takane leans back, props her head against the foot of Ayano's bed. "What do we do now?"

 

Shintaro glances at the clock - it reads 12 AM - and shrugs. "I don't know. Maybe we could sleep?"

 

"I'm just going to pretend like that wasn't sarcasm in favor of preserving the peace of this little gathering, like a good senpai."

 

And, oh, the silent but murderous look that Shintaro shoots her is _so_ worth it.

 

Ayano, though. Ayano frown and pauses the video on Shintaro's phone (because the sleepover had turned into a studying/gaming/anime-watching session). She looks at the rest of the group, all of them seated in a circle on the floor, and says "maybe we should sleep."

 

Her suggestion is met with stunned silence.

 

"I mean, it _is_ a school night, and..."

 

Three pairs of eyes land on Haruka, who was sprawled across Shintaro's lap, snoring away happily.

 

Silently, they all reach an agreement: Takane and Shintaro gently place Haruka on the bed, Ayano turns out the lights, and somehow, four people manage to fit themselves onto a bed made for one.

 

"I have a confession," Ayano whispers into the still air. "I'm not sleepy at all."

 

"Oh yeah? I have one too."

 

Takane turns her head so she can see Ayano better. "...I kinda enjoyed this. I wouldn't mind too much if we did this again."

 

"I have this ideal body in my head," Haruka suddenly pipes up, causing Shintaro to scream and fall off of the bed. "I - oh, sorry, Shintaro - I always wonder what it would be like to have a disease-free life, y'know?"

 

Ayano just lies there, listening to the commotion caused by Shintaro die down and thinking over Haruka's almost offhand statement. And while that definitely wasn't the first time she had heard him talk about his health so casually, Ayano's eyes well up and her heart fills with love and she blurts out "I love you all so _much_."

 

She keeps going, fully aware of the stares she's receiving. "Haruka, you're so happy and nice despite everything. Takane, you care so much and you may not like it but I think it's the most beautiful thing. And Shintaro, I know how bad you are with feelings, but believe me when I say that it's alright, I know you're not a bad person and that's more than enough. I don't _care_ if I'm not supposed to, I love all three of you and I don't want to choose."

 

The room goes dead silent after Ayano's outburst, but she can't feel any tension in the air and desperately prays that it's a good thing.

 

Shintaro moves first, rolling onto his side and burying his face into the crook of Ayano's arm. "...Good. Me too."

 

"Shintaro?" Haruka gasps in delight. "I mean - I knew that you loved us but it's so nice to hear you say it out loud!"

 

" _Ugh_ , enough with all of the sap."

 

Takane gets up and lays back down on everyone's legs. Which should not be comfortable at all, but she makes it look like the best thing in the world with the way she contentedly places hear head on Haruka's thigh. "I love all of you too, but I need my beauty sleep, so hush."

 

With a retort on the tip of his tongue, Shintaro opens his mouth, but the only thing that manages to come out is a yawn. Blearily, he realizes that Haruka's arms are pulling him closer and that Haruka himself is _warm_ , and the last thing he hears before sleep claims him is Takane murmuring "good night, boys."

 

* * *

 

 

Ayano wakes up surrounded by warmth.

 

She mistakes the bodies next to her for those of her siblings, muttering "Shuuya, get off" before a sharp jab to her shoulder reminds Ayano of where she really is.

 

"Oh! Morning, Takane. Did you sleep well?"

 

The other girl scoffs and waves a hand. "I sleep well every day of the week. You don't need to worry about that."

 

"Well that's good, isn't it?"

 

Beaming, Ayano faces Takane the best she can (and Takane actually has to _squint_ , because she swears Ayano's smile is even brighter than the sliver of sunlight peeking through the curtains of Ayano's bedroom). "There's something else bothering you, isn't there?"

 

"Well, uh." Takane visibly hesitates, tucking her chin deeper into the blankets. "Was last night real? Do you really love all of us?"

 

Ayano's eyes soften in the light as she looks over he friends(? lovers? loves of her life?). "Takane, I promise you: this is one thing I would never lie about."

 

A loud exhale.

 

"Good. Or else this would be really embarassing."

 

Ayano watches, speechless, as Takane reaches up to grab one of her hands, pulls it closer, and presses a gentle kiss onto the palm

 

"Okay?" Takane whispers, ready to pull her hand away at the slightest hint of discomfort. But Ayano doesn't let her; she grabs Takane's hand with both of her own and lets the smile reappear on her face.

 

"Okay."


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ah. one day later . chapter 2 . still in denial that I have a fixation

For the thousandth time, Shintaro wonders why he doesn't just uninstall Ene.

 

He says as much out loud in a voice that he knows Ene will hear, just so he can antagonize her. Out of the corner of his eye, he can see her puff out her chest and blow a raspberry, but she doesn't do anything more because it's nearing eleven PM and a sleep-deprived Momo is terrifying, even for the digital girl.

 

"Master is no  _fun_ ," she pouts, making herself comfortable on one of Shintaro's various folders. "You're just going to go directly to sleep today? No more talking?"

 

Shintaro just glares at Ene, but it's so unlike the lovingly annoyed glared he used to send her that it shuts her up immediately.

 

( _Really, now,_ she berates herself.  _It's been months, you should be used to it by now._

 

But sometimes it still hurts, knowing that she'll never be as close to Shintaro as she used to.)

 

Instead of pushing her luck with idle chatter like usual, Ene sits back and watches Shintaro go through the familiar nightly ritual. Save and shut down everything, shower, brush teeth, turn off lights, climb into bed in the stifling dark and face the blank wall.

 

Ene sighs, half in frustration and half in loneliness, and hops off of the folder to head towards the corner of Shintaro's monitor where she spends the night.

 

"'Night, Shintaro," slips out of Ene's mouth before she can stop it, and she promptly drifts off to sleep (or something like it) before she can consider what kind of mistake she just made.

 

* * *

 

 

Shintaro holds his breath, not even daring to fidget until he knows for sure that Ene has fallen into a coma, left his computer, whatever it was that she did at night. He turns around slowly, stretching a five-second action into a five-minute one, and exhales in relief when he spots the blue-haired girl face-down on the bottom of the screen, back rising and falling in a steady rhythm.

 

He knows very well that Ene could be faking, but somehow he can't bring himself to tear his eyes away from the tiny figure. She had been acting strangely all night - even shutting up when threatened - and Shintaro can't shake the feeling that Ene had seemed like a completely different person.

 

 _An overly familiar one, too_ , he muses, suddenly recalling flashes of black pigtails and warm nights and countless "GAME OVER" screens. But that thought only reminds Shintaro of what he had lost, so he forcibly pushes it out of his head and rolls back onto his side, praying that the stark whiteness of his walls wouldn't give his nightmares any place to take root

 

(He doesn't notice Ene gazing at him, unblinking, wishing she could reach out and physically comfort him.

 

* * *

 

 

Shintaro wakes up to complete silence and panics.

 

He can't remember what his dream was about, but he can feel a sinking sense of disappointment when his flailing hands meet empty space instead of another body (or two. or three).

 

Shintaro lies there for another moment or two, letting the sunlight infiltrate his room and warm his skin ( _an empty sort of warmth_ , he thinks), trying not to think too much in the quiet -

 

\- well, the previously quiet atmosphere, because at that moment Ene decides to pull out the harshest, loudest sound that Shintaro has in his soundbank and play it at full volume through his speakers, and all thoughts are chased out of his head as he swears and blindly hopes that Momo had already gone to school. 

 

"Good morning, Master!" Ene chirps, her usual overly-cheerful persona back in place, and Shintaro's eyes soften just a bit when he sees her pop back onto his screen in a whirlwind of multicolored pixels. 'Didn't miss me too much, did you?"

 

"...Maybe just a bit," he mumbles, ignoring Ene's shrieks of delight at "new blackmail material!" as he kicks his jacket onto the bed and gets ready for another long, long day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> once more: come yell at me on twitter @axlotlols


	3. chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> im so fucjing . emotionally invested

"It's  _what_."

 

"Raining!" Kano supplies with a much-too-innocent grin, and - no, Shintaro is too tired for this and Hibiya was still there, and Shintaro thinks the kid would get the wrong idea if he threw Kano out of the house to catch pneumonia.

 

"That. Is not what you told me two hours ago. You have got to be kidding me."

 

Momo just throws up her hands and groans in frustration. "Brother, do not open your mouth or you're going to ruin our image even more. Danchou, is it alright if we stay for a little longer?"

 

Kido looks up in surprise and a small smile flits across her face. "...Of course, stay for as long as you need to. But will your parents be worried?"

 

"Nope! I texted them already, and they're overjoyed that Shintaro has friends again."

 

Shintaro swears under his breath and mentally ups his body count to two.

 

"Oh, that's sweet!" Seto grins, and  _gods above, he's never going to hear the end of this, is he._ "But if you really are going to be staying overnight, it might get a little crowded. All us guys share a room, and...well, including you, there's four of us."

 

"Don't worry, I'll just sleep on the floor or something."

 

"No, no, hold on! Let me see if I can find an extra mattress anywhere in this house."

 

And at this point, all Shintaro can do is sigh and kick his shoes back off, because there was no way he was leaving this apartment now.

 

Momo shoots Shintaro a triumphant look, which Shintaro thinks is totally uncalled for; he was perfectly capable of socially interacting, thank you very much, he just  _chose_ not to.

 

But this wasn't about his social life, this was about Kano and his misleading  _ass_ (he can already hear Kano protesting "well, I can't control the weather, can I?"). Part of Shintaro still wants to resist, to go  _dammit, I don't need your help, I don't need another repeat of Ayano_ , but Ene's upbeat chatter and the massive grin on Momo's face make him think that okay, maybe this wouldn't hurt too much.

 

Not too long after that thought, Seto pokes his head back into the room, going on about not being able to find a mattress, so sorry Shintaro, let me show you around so you know where everything is, is that okay? Overwhelmed, all Shintaro can do is blink - which is affirmation enough for the younger boy, who immediately grabs his hand and starts dragging him towards the boys' room.

 

Shintaro just closes his mouth and surrenders to the surprisingly strong forward pull, half wondering what he's getting into.

 

* * *

 

 

Surprisingly enough, he doesn't mind sharing a bed with three other people - it comes naturally, and the boys are much calmer sleeping companions than...anyone, really. Although Kano did come close to falling off of the bed within the first fifteen minutes, but that was a minor inconvenience in the general course of the night.

 

The  _real_ problem was something much less self-destructive.

 

Shintaro could feel Konoha's gaze boring into the back of his head, but he couldn't begin to guess what the android-like boy wanted.

 

So instead, Shintaro ignores the stare (quite successfully, he thinks), forcing his breathing to stay slow and steady until it hitches when Konoha calls his name softly and with more emotion than necessary.

 

"What," he mutters, and almost chokes on the last syllable because Konoha had sidled up to him and wrapped his arms around Shintaro's middle and buried his head in Shintaro's shoulder.

 

"What the  _f_ \- what the hell are you  _doing_ ," Shintaro hisses. "And loosen your grip a little, I can't breathe."

 

"I don't know," Konoha admits matter-of-factly, and Shintaro  _really_ wants to die. "But it feels familiar, so...do you mind terribly?"

 

"...No, you can stay. Just, don't crush me to death in your sleep, okay?"

 

"Thank you, Shintaro!" Konoha exclaims happily, and Shintaro has to elbow Konoha in the ribs to get him to  _shut up, you're going to wake everyone else up, too._

 

Shintaro hears Ene chirp "good night, boys" from his phone, sees Konoha's eyes widen in recognition, and passes out from exhaustion before he can ask what on earth that was about.

 

* * *

 

 

Loud and extremely unsubtle snickering filters into Shintaro's consciousness and gives him a rather rude awakening.

 

"Kano," he growls, flinging his eyelids open and moving his leg to give the smaller boy a good kick.

 

Except he can't.

 

Move his leg, that is.

 

Shintaro looks down, face heating up when he realizes that Konoha is spread-eagled across the lower half of his body. Sometime during the night, their legs had tangled together, and of  _course_ Konoha was oblivious to it all, peacefully slumbering with his head on Shintaro's chest.

 

To make things worse, Momo walks into the room with Ene on her phone, the latter of whom immediately bursts into hysterical laughter at the incredulous look on Shintaro's face. For her part, Momo seems unruffled, simply poking Kano's hand to get him to lower his phone and asking Shintaro if he would come down for breakfast soon.

 

"Just save me some stuff, don't wait," he replies, and watches in relief as Momo practically threatens Kano out of the room and retrieves Seto's half-asleep figure from the bathroom.

 

Finally alone, Shintaro sighs - if he wanted to get up on time, he has no choice but to try to extract himself from Konoha's vise-like grip. He's in the middle of trying to figure out where Konoha's foot was and how it got there when the other boy wakes up, blinking slowly.

 

"Morning, Shintaro," he yawns. "Sorry about...last night...I don't know what I..."

 

And really, Shintaro has no heart to complain about anything to the innocent (and somewhat adorable) face in front of him, so instead he falls back onto the bed and mumbles "it was no problem, really," trying his best to fight the warmth on his face.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> god damn

It was hard, at first, getting used to the idea that  _this was real, this was really happening, nothing was standing in their way anymore_.

 

After the Snake of Clearing Eyes had gone for good and the members of the Dan were trying to figure out what came next, Ayano had nervously twisted her scarf until it looked like it was about to choke her, causing Takane to unceremoniously swat her hands away, and stuttered through asking  _would you guys want to go back to how we were before?_

 

Shintaro had turned red and nodded curtly, Haruka had burst into tears, and Takane had initiated a group hug with suspiciously red-rimmed eyes.

 

Dealing with Takane and Haruka's parents was a must: they hadn't seen their children in months - possibly years, but no one knew for sure, because the Daze was weird with time like that. The adults had cried, the kids had cried, and Shintaro and Ayano were welcomed with open arms.

 

("But we didn't  _do_ anything," they had protested, to which Takane had just glared them into submission.)

 

Ayano's siblings, next. She had gone so long without them that she didn't want to leave them again, but with a combination of Seto's gentle "I promise we'll be fine, Sis" and Kano's grating "we've gone so long without you, we can handle a little bit more time," Ayano manages to leave apartment 107 with a minimum of tears in her eyes.

 

Leaving 107, that is, for another apartment. One that was even more crowded than the last one, if possible, but none of them really cared.

 

"So," Takane finally manages to bring up, about a week into The Move (as Ayano liked to call it). "This is a thing now? This is a thing now."

 

Ayano looks up from the ground, pushing stray hairs out of her face. "Hm? Well, I'd sure hope so. Hasn't it been almost a year since..."

 

She trails off awkwardly, unsure of how to name something that the entire Dan, not just the four of them, didn't really want to remember. But they understood anyway; mutual traumatization wasn't something that was easy to get over.

 

"One year," Shintaro repeats. "Huh. Feels like just yesterday that we were on the verge of the apocalypse."

 

"Shintaro!" Ayano laughs and shoves his shoulder, watching him fall backwards with mock offense painted all over his face. "Be more  _positive._ "

 

"Easy for you to say, you're the ray of sunshine around here," he shoots right back, grinning as Ayano's face turns a brilliant shade of tomato red.

 

Takane makes a face and crosses her arms. "Okay, lovebirds. Any of you two wanna help, or am I gonna have to do all the cleaning up around here? And where did Haruka go, anyway."

 

"You're just jealous that you weren't included," Shintaro snorts (not without affection). "And Haruka's in the bedroom, I think he went to sleep already."

 

"And I thought  _I_ was the sleepy one," Takane grumbles, at the same time that Ayano says "actually, that might be a good idea."

 

Shintaro laughs. "Still the responsible one, I see. But what about all these boxes?"

 

Ayano shrugs. "Leave them. There's always tomorrow, right?"

 

(So they all climb into bed together somehow, four bodies smushed together far too tightly, knowing full well that absolutely no work is getting done tomorrow.

 

And this time, when Takane whispers "good night, boys," Shintaro is awake enough to whisper "good night" back.)

 

* * *

 

 

Shintaro doesn't know what's better: waking up with Ayano's arms around him or waking up to Haruka's smiling face.

 

He deliberately leaves Takane out of that thought, because Takane is a drooling, snoring, sprawling mess of a human in the morning, and all he does is wiggle his legs out from underneath one of Takane's arms and smile back at Haruka.

 

"Morning," he whispers, taking care not to wake Ayano. "You okay?"

 

"Mhm!"

 

Haruka's grin only grows wider, and Shintaro can feel the newly regained sincerity radiating off of him. "Everything's okay as long as you guys are here!"

 

"That's...god, don't just say things like that, it's embarrassing." Shintaro resists the urge to hide his face, instead reaching out to ruffle Haruka's hair. "You haven't changed a bit, have you?"

 

"I have, though! I have a better body now."

 

"But you still faint."

 

"But it's less than before!"

 

Haruka pouts, batting at Shintaro's arm half-heartedly. "C'mooon, Shintaro, be  _happier_."

 

"Yeah, Shintaro, be happier." Takane pipes up, a smirk already on her face as she stretches languidly across her part of the bed. "Good morning, by the way."

 

"Sure, sure, now you say good morning," Shintaro grumbles, but he reaches down to grab Takane's offered hand anyway. "How long have you been awake?"

 

"Long enough to hear how disgustingly sappy you are,  _Master~_ " Takane mocks, and just the hint of Ene's old voice sends the three of them into uncontrollable peals of laughter.

 

"Hm...did I miss something?" Ayano yawns, and the other three occupants of the bed immediately sober up.

 

"Nah, not really. Just having some fun at Shintaro's expense."

 

Takane shifts a little, allowing Ayano to roll over on her side. "Sorry about all that, did we wake you up?"

 

"Oh...no, I was just about to wake up. I think."  


Ayano blinks the sleep out of her eyes, smiling when she realizes that Haruka is holding on to Shintaro, who's holding on to Takane, who has one more free hand.

 

So Ayano takes that hand, completing the chain, and wonders out loud if they can just order pizza for breakfast so that no one has to get out of bed.

 

(And it's times like these, when he's surrounded by love and laughter, that Shintaro makes his wish upon a rising sun: that they'll stay like this forever, loving and being loved, sticking together until the end of time.)

**Author's Note:**

> come yell at me on twitter @axlotlols


End file.
